Free pass into Shanghai!

We left Seoul on Sunday morning and had a layover in Shanghai for nearly 12 hours.  What to do?  Explore the city, of course!  Luckily for us, because we were staying in China for less than 24 hours and had onward tickets to Vietnam, we could just go through immigration and get a special stamp which allowed us into the city for free.  Amazing!!!


John and I had visited China before in 2010, but our travels only took us to Beijing, Xian, Yangshuo, and Hong Kong.  Visiting Shanghai was a new experience for us, and also for Greg who had never been to China before.  I knew Shanghai was going to be a big city, but I was surprised at how clean and nice all the buildings were.

From Pudong International Airport, we took the Maglev (magnetic levitation) high speed train into the city.  It cost 80 Yuan (around $13 USD) for round trip tickets.  We went 30 km in 8 minutes, and the train reached a speed of 301 km/h while we were on it! 

The Maglev train

So fast!

The train brought us to a subway line, where we hopped on and rode towards the People's Square, a nice open square with beautiful flowers.

People's Square

The People's Square was in the heart of Shanghai, surrounded by skyscrapers and buildings that looked more European than Asian.  We wandered around the area by foot and stumbled upon the famous Nanjing Road... a pedestrian road lined with tons of shops.  We ate Shanghai-style duck and some kind of crispy battered beef dish for lunch.  The beef was ok, but I didn't enjoy the duck too much.  I definitely liked the famous "Peking Duck" we ate in Bejing a few years ago much better!

Nanjing Road

Our jaunt down Nanjing Road eventually led us to the waterfront area known as The Bund, where we could see a great view of the futuristic looking skyscrapers that make Shanghai's skyline famous.  We ended up taking the ferry across the water (only 4 Yuan, or around $0.65 round trip), which gave us an even closer view of the buildings before we had to head back to the airport on the Maglev.

The Bund

Hanging out at the waterfront

Shanghai by day

Shanghai by night!

It was a great day in Shanghai!  I would definitely enjoy having a layover there again!

A day in Seoul

We left Busan bright and early to take the KTX high speed train to Seoul.  A one-way economy ticket costs around $50 and is about 2.5 hours.  You can easily book your tickets online through the KTX website and then bring your reservation number to the ticket window at the train station and get your tickets.

John and I had been to Seoul several times before, so we were familiar with some of the sights.  We checked in to a guesthouse near the vibrant Hongik University area, and then headed straight to Gyeongbokgung Palace.  Wikipedia tells me that Gyeongbokgung was first built in 1395, and then rebuilt in 1867 (Canadian confederation year!) after being burned down and abandoned for nearly three centuries.  Korea is a country with so much history... it's amazing to visit sites that date back hundreds of years.  In comparison, many sites in Canada haven't been around so long, since our country is fairly "new" compared to Korea.

Anyway, Gyeongbokgung is a pretty big complex.  The Korean royals used to live there, and it dates back to the Joseon dynasty.  The first time John and I visited here, we took an audio tour.  This time, we all decided to take a free tour with a guide.  During our visit, we also got to see the changing of the guard.

After spending a few hours at Gyeongbokgung, we made our way to Insadong, a cool cultural area not too far away from the palace.  There is one main pedestrian walkway through Insadong filled with traditional restaurants, tea houses, and shops selling artisan goods.  Unfortunately, my favourite tea house (The Old Tea Shop, aka "The Flying Bird Tea Shop" with real birds flying around) had a sign on the door that said "on vacation."  Oh well!

While in Insadong, we ate bulgogi for dinner.  Bulgogi is thinly sliced marinated beef with onions.  It was pretty good!  The night ended with a visit to a DVD room where you pick out your own movie, and then watch it in a private room with a big screen while relaxing on a couch or bed.

Seoul is a cool city, but I prefer the coastal charm of Busan... beaches, mountains, milder weather, and less people!  Seoul city proper has approximately 10 million people, with a metropolitan area population of around 25 million.  Crazy!!!

Lotte Lotte Lotte Lotte!!!

On our last night in Busan, we were lucky enough to have tickets to see a second-round playoffs baseball game... Busan Lotte Giants vs. Incheon SK Wyverns.  John's co-teacher Sumi got us some tickets, which made us very excited!  One of the reasons we decided to stay in Busan the entire week was because of this game, and I'm very happy we stayed in Busan the week to wait for it.

Baseball games in Korea are always exciting.  There is even an "Exciting Zone" that you can sit in, where the mascots/dancers are to get the crowd pumped up.  Playoffs baseball games in Korea are even better!  Many people (including us) showed up hours before the game.  We had unreserved seats, so we needed to get there early to secure a good spot in the outfield.

The game was pretty intense.  In the last few innings, orange bags are passed around and the custom is to fill it with air and tie it, then put the bag loops over your ears and wear it on your head.  I'm not sure how/why this started... I think it's for good luck, but they seem to do it at every game!  At the end of the game, you can take the bag off your head and put your garbage in it, and then toss it in a bin on the way out.  Smart!  Only in Korea...

Lotte ended up beating SK 4-1.  The crowd was going crazy!!!  It was an awesome night and we are very thankful for the tickets that Sumi gave us.  It was sad leaving Busan, but our adventures did not end there...

Chingu means friend

One great thing about visiting Korea again is that we got to see many of our friends again.  I didn't get to see all the people I wanted to, but hopefully will get to another time.  In Korea, the word "chingu" means friend.

We met with old co-workers...

Dinner with Yeong Oak and Sumi

 

Patbingsu with Jiseung

Dinner (ox bone soup) with Monica

Korean mothers I used to teach English to...

Lunch at Outback with Kelly

At Outback with Liz

And other friends (old and new)...

Coffee with Iseul, Yesl, and Joon Uck

Tea with Emily - Alyssa's friend who just moved to Busan!

I'm so happy that I got to visit my friends in Busan... looking forward to the next time we get to meet again!!!

Busan's other famous beach - Gwangalli!

Busan has no shortage of great beaches.  It was great to visit the beach (even if it was during the fall and too cold to go swimming)!  Besides the famous Haeundae Beach, my other favourite beach in Busan is Gwangalli Beach.  Here you can see the beautiful Gwangan Bridge.

There is a boardwalk along the beach, and a street lined with many restaurants, bars, and cafes.  One of my favourite Busan restaurants, Breeze Burns, is located across from the beach.  It was nice to get a burger there just like old times!

Korean street food

"Street food" in Korea is everywhere, and comes in many different forms... on a stick, rolled up in seaweed, in a bowl, or served in a dixie cup.

Some of my favourite street foods are:


Hotteok (호떡)
 
Hotteok is a small pancake filled with things like chopped nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, and honey.  It is fried in oil and served hot in a dixie cup.  These things are the perfect snack on a crisp fall day.  There is a famous hotteok stand in Nampodong, one of the coolest areas in Busan.  People line up to pay 900 KRW (less than $1) for a nice hot hotteok.  YUM!

 Kimbap (김밥)

Kimbap is a typical lunch you would eat at a picnic.  Many of my Korean students bring it in their school lunch.  It reminds me of the Korean version of a sandwich, but without bread or any of the normal sandwich fillings (if that makes any sense).  Kimbap is rice, meat, fish, eggs, vegetables sliced thinly and rolled up in seaweed (kim).  It is basically Korean sushi.  You can buy it on the street for around $1-2.

Ramyeon (라면)

Ramyeon, or as many of us know it as "ramen," is everywhere.  You can buy instant ramyeon at the convenience store.  Even Korean rapping sensation PSY is on commercials for ramyeon!  Ramyeon is like the Korean person's version of chicken noodle soup... the classic soup that everyone loves and eats when they are feeling sick.

The best things about Korean street food is that they are delicious and CHEAP.  YUM!!!

Taejongdae & Haedong Yonggungsa

While in Busan, I revisited some of my favourite places in the city - Taejongdae Park and Haedong Yonggungsa, the temple by the sea.

Taejongdae

Taejongdae is a peaceful place on Yeongdo, an island that is part of Busan.  You get to Yeongdo via the bridge near Nampdong/Jagalchi.  From Jagalchi station (exit 10) there are lots of buses that go to Taejongdae (8, 13, 30, 88, 101).  You ride the bus until the end of the line, and then get off in the parking lot and walk up the hill towards Taejongdae Park.

Taejongdae is famous for hiking and its dramatic cliffs.  There are beautiful views of the harbour with many fishing boats out in the sea.  I remember coming here for a staff outing with the Korean teachers at my school.  It's a nice place to just wander around and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Haedong Yonggungsa

Haedong Yonggungsa is a lovely temple in Busan that anyone can appreciate (even those people living/travelling around Asia that are all "templed-out").  This temple is unique in the fact that it is near the sea, and not up in the mountains like most temples are.

To get here, it's a bit of a ride.  From Haeundae station (exit 7), we took bus 181.  After you get off, you walk up a hill, make your way through a path of vendors selling everything from Buddhist prayer beads to tea, roasted chestnuts, and silkworms, and then you are met with a path lined with statues representing the 12 animals of the lunar calendar.  After that, you can find a path that leads down towards the sea - and there is the temple!

Exploring new parts of Busan

With a metropolitan area population of around 4.4 million, Busan is definitely not a small city.  While you may think that a city this large would feel crowded, that is hardly the case in Busan.  The city is spread out around the mountains and beaches, and you never feel like you are in a mob of people.  Sometimes the subways may get busy, but nothing like bigger cities like Seoul.

Having lived in Busan for one year, we got around to most of the big attractions of the city.  On this trip, we decided to explore some new corners of the city.

Dongnae Eupseong Fortress

We spent a morning at Dongnae Eupseong Fortress, which was originally built hundreds of years ago and then destroyed during the Japanese invasions.  It has since been rebuilt and restored.  Spending some time walking along the fortress wall in perfect fall weather was very relaxing.  In Ho Chi Minh City, all we get is hot weather (hot and sunny, or hot and rainy).  We can't experience the 4 seasons here, so spending fall in Korea was really nice for us.  It was great to see the leaves changing colour on the trees.

Gamcheon Culture Village

Upon recommendation from my friend Jiseung, we also visited the neighbourhood of Gamcheon. While Gamcheon was not too far from our old neighbourhood (compared to the places we visited the most), we had never been there, and did not know that a "culture village" existed there.

Gamcheon is reached by taking line 1 of the subway to Toseong (exit 6).  We took a cab from there to the top of the hill overlooking the neighbourhood.  The view was amazing - hundreds of colourful rooftops on a hill overlooking the sea.  They don't call it "the Santorini of South Korea" for nothing!

This place was a photographer's dream come true.  I'm not a pro by any means, but anyone who is into photography should visit here!

The history behind this neighbourhood is very interesting.  During the Korean war, this place was untouched. Around 4000 followers of the Taegeukdo religion and many refugees moved here, and eventually the headquarters of this religion was moved here.  Today, many of the residents are not followers of the religion, but the temple still remains.  Many people in this neighbourhood have low incomes, and live a simple life.  The neighbourhood is very quiet, and to truly appreciate it you need to wander around the alleys.  There are arrows pointing the way around, leading you up staircases, narrow pathways, and twisting streets.  Along the way, there are some unique displays of art.  It's a place that is not very well-known as an attraction (compared to places like Haeundae Beach and Jagalchi), but it is definitely somewhere that anyone could enjoy.  I would now list it as one of my top places in Busan!

Back in da hood

While in Korea, we could not pass up a visit to Hadan, our old neighbourhood.  Hadan is on the outskirts of the city and is the second last subway stop on one end of the red metro line.

Living in a neighbourhood with hardly any foreigners was tough at times, but now that I'm currently living in a neighbourhood which is pretty much all foreigners in Vietnam, I can appreciate my old Korean neighbourhood.  It definitely gave me a true cultural experience!

While in Hadan, John visited his favourite place - the batting cages near the university!  Just like old times...

One of the strangest things was walking by the old apartment.  I paid a visit to the corner store which I used to buy groceries from.  The lady who owned the store remembered me, and she gave us all free milk.  In my experience, Korean people can be so generous and kind.  At first, they may be reserved or shy, but after getting to know you on a personal level, they are so warm and will be your friend for life.

An afternoon at the fish market

One of Busan's most famous attractions is the Jagalchi Fish Market.  At Jagalchi, you can see rows upon rows of vendors selling fresh seafood... fish, eel, shrimp, giant crab, octopus, you name it!  If you're lucky (or unlucky?) you can get to see them skinning live eels and chopping the heads off of fish.  It's disgusting but you just can't bring yourself to look away.

On our Jagalchi visit, we decided to do as many locals do, and partake in a seafood lunch upstairs above the market building.  I don't like seafood, but I went along with it just for the experience.  We met a friendly vendor who sold us an octopus and a fish.  She scooped them out of their tanks and placed them in a bucket, and then we were ushered upstairs.  We sat down on the floor, Korean-style, at a table and waited.  Not too much long after, our lunch was ready.  The fish had been transformed into sashimi, and the octopus was cut up, with the tentacles still moving on the plate.

Before

After...

I've tried the moving octopus tentacles before when I lived in Korea, and it was not the most pleasant thing to eat.  They still move around in your mouth and the little suction cups on the tentacles stick to your tongue and teeth, but you just chew and swallow.  I never thought I would ever eat it again (let alone voluntarily) but I guess sometimes you just have to live by that saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans do..."  Oh well!  "When in Busan..."